Sam Allardyce declared himself ‘dumbfounded’ at Sunderland’s failure to earn at least a draw against Watford.

And, given the number of chances they created in the final 15 minutes, he had a point – even if his team did not.

But the seeds of Sunderland’s self-destruction were sown in the first 15 minutes when they defended like dummies.

The absence of centre-back Younes Kaboul through illness left Sunderland with a big void to fill in their 3-4-3 system.

It came down to a straight choice between playing full-back Jones out of position, or turning to 36-year-old Wes Brown – and Big Sam plumped for the former.

That underlines just how little cover Sunderland have in that position, and why a centre-back must be right at the top of Allardyce’s Christmas list.

Because Sunderland’s defence – so solid when it kept back-to-back clean sheets against Crystal Palace and Stoke City – was all over the place against Watford.

Odion Ighalo’s fourth-minute goal – or was it a Sebastian Coates’ own-goal; no-one seems quite certain – was enough to secure victory for the visitors, although with better finishing the Hornets could have scored three or four inside the first quarter-of-an-hour.

Costel Pantilimon, a goalline clearance from Coates and the woodwork all came to Sunderland’s rescue to spare them total humiliation in those early stages.

Allardyce’s decision to make a personnel change after 20 minutes, sending on Jack Rodwell in place of DeAndre Yedlin and switching to a flat back four, was a sign not only of how badly things were going, but also that Big Sam is prepared to switch to Plan B when things are not working.

The out-of-form Fabio Borini wasted a good opportunity just before the formation change, and in the second half subs Jermain Defoe and Adam Johnson were unable to take the chances that came their way. With Sunderland throwing the

kitchen sink at Watford, the visitors had chances on the break, but Ighalo failed to convert any of the three one-on-ones he had with Pantilimon.

Ultimately, however, they had already done enough.

Sunderland’s day got worse when Bournemouth produced another tea-time shock result against Manchester United, which meant the gap between the Black Cats and safety doubled to two points.

And with games against Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool still to come this month, Sunderland’s situation is likely to get worse before it gets better.